salmon cakes with lemon yogurt sauce

I tend to shy away from anything savory touting the word "cake" in the title. Cake should be sweet and desserty, not fishy and garlicky. Kind of like how bread deserves to be in loaves, but the word meatloaf brings an instant shudder (don't get Zillah started), no matter how good-tasting it might turn out to be. But then there's something about eating a crab cake sandwich with a dash of lemon and maybe some chopped tomatoes while walking down the boardwalk in a beach town on the east coast...so maybe a salmon cake would be all right after all.

Ixoj's reaction:

And it turns out that they were more than all right--they were delicious and exceedingly simple. So good that I actually made them twice within 7 days and I decided several things: 1) If you're lazy when cutting up the salmon, your cakes will have over-sized chunks and won't be as delicious. 2) They are an excellent alternative to any other way one might want to cook salmon. I can't tell you how sick I was of grilled/broiled salmon with a bit of lemon and oil on top. 3) Cilantro is a recommended addition to either the cakes or the sauce. 4) Leftover salmon cakes are good, but should definitely not be heated up in the microwave at work unless you wish to be ostracized by your coworkers. Room temperature seems like a pretty good option to me.

Zillah's reaction:

Having led a life markedly and sadly bereft of boardwalks, I have to confess I'm not particularly familiar with crab cakes and their relatives (I think I may have cut my salmon into over-sized chunks. I promise it wasn't out of laziness. I think it has more to do with the fact that I'm not entirely sure how large 1/2" is. Flakier pieces of salmon would have been better.). This obviously should change: more boardwalks and more fish cakes.

I did a few things differently with this recipe. I toasted a piece of wheat bread in the oven and crushed it into crumbs, but it didn't provide quite enough binding power, so I tore up half a piece of fresh bread and that helped. Mayonnaise makes me want to die, so while I halved all the other amounts, I put in the whole egg, and added a tablespoon or so of yogurt. Next time I'll add a bit more cayenne. I did add some fresh mint to the yogurt, which was pretty fabulous. The only salmon I could find was lightly smoked, which I heartily recommend. Just as a side note, the cakes were a bit bigger than I thought they would be, but that could be because my salmon chunks were a bit on the large side--I'd go for as flaky as possible. Also, they do reheat well on the stove, and probably would in the oven too.

Salmon Cakes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce
Adapted from Gourmet Aug 2008

1 pound skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 slices firm white sandwich bread, torn into small pieces + about 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 T chopped chives, divided
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest, divided
juice of one a lemon, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Mix together bread and crumbs, mayonnaise, egg, coriander, cayenne, 1 tablespoon chives, garlic, 1 teaspoon zest, half the lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add salmon and season with black pepper (and cilantro or mint if you'd like). Form into 4 cakes (4 inches in diameter).

Heat oil in a pan until a bit of water flicked into the pan dances with delight. Cook salmon cakes, turning over once, until golden and just cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes total.

Stir together yogurt, remaining lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining tablespoon chives, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon zest (and cilantro or mint, if you'd like). Serve salmon cakes with sauce.